England 25-7 Australia: Henry Pollock and Ben Earl score at Twickenham

The opening exchanges took place mainly in the air, rather than on the grass.

Since the rules were changed last year, which banned ‘escort runners’ and made it easier to chase players to take kicks, there has been a higher premium on the ability to claim high balls.

England full-back Freddie Steward, whose selection was largely due to his reliability in this regard, initially struggled to establish control in the backfield, with Joseph Okosu-Swale and Potter rising high to draw fouls and win the ball back.

Steward’s regulation catch in the 19th minute drew derisive cheers from the crowd.

But if Steward took some time to highlight, England had other specialists in flight, and winger Tom Roebuck beat Suaalii to claim Mitchell’s kick before passing the ball to Sam Underhill on his return to the ground.

Underhill passed sensibly straight to back-row colleague Ben Earl, who – backed by coach Steve Borthwick for a test start in the position in the future – showed his pace as he sneaked under the sticks to add to George Ford’s earlier penalty and make it 10-0.

Tommy Freeman, who was in the middle of his switch to midfield from the wing, failed to make the most of England’s best chance up to that point, as he caught the ball and took possession with Emmanuel Faye-Wabuso running over his shoulder.

But Australia, who came back from a 12-point deficit to win this encounter last fall and came from a 22-point deficit to beat world champions South Africa in August, held strong under pressure.

Jake Gordon, the scrum-half, did a brilliant job to finish Earl over the line as the back row skipped across the whitewash again.

The visitors then made a brilliant counter-kick attempt.

Backing Australia to their own line, England looked set to extend their lead.

But the Wimbledon-born Wallabies winger, who won the Premier League title under Borthwick during his time at Leicester, easily read Fraser Dingwall’s intent to throw an errant pass to Steward, stepped up to the goal line, plucked the ball out of the air and raced down the field to attempt an interception.

With the gap reduced to three points, Australia found a new physical advantage.

Tane Edmed disposed of Dingwall, Taniela Tupou rocked Jimmy George and Suaalii Scythe Earl in full flight.

The Wallabies were down on the scoreboard but headed into half-time on top after a move from the back kept them within striking distance of the hosts.